Blind but Still Seeing
by EliadetheAkuma
Summary: Edmund Reid comes across a woman who is somehow blind but still seeing. But she makes him realize she isn't the blind one...he is. Edmund Reid/OC


_It was incredibly dark; Edmund couldn't imagine having to view absolute darkness even when the light from the sun could be felt. He stumbled around, feeling blind and stupid for not being able to find his way. He grunted when his shoulder impacted with a stone cold wall, which scratched his hand when he felt it. Feeling slightly less blind, he felt the wall as he walked forward, tripping slightly as he went along. _

_The hallway seemed to go on forever, the darkness everlasting and the blindness never-ending. Still, Edmund preserved, unsure as to why he was even here. He followed the hallway, stumbling all the way. He wasn't sure where he was but it was riled and wet, with a heavy stench in the air mixed with the undeniable smell of steel, rusted and old._

_Suddenly, a light blinded him, shining down upon him from above. He looked up reluctantly, trying to focus on what was setting the light. His pupils constricted and he finally saw that this bright light was actually just a regular light. He then looked to his front, finding a large steel door before him. There was a small hole of sorts on the bottom, where a plate or short bowl could be passed through. He studied the door, wondering if he dared to unlock the bolts and enter._

_There were ten bolts altogether on the door, five on the lower left and five on the upper, latching the door firmly. The door's paint was long gone, replaced by the brown rust covering the majority of the steel surface. He brushed his hands across the surface, wondering what could be beyond the door. He figured it had to be something powerful, possibly dangerous. He bit his lip, contemplating his decision carefully._

_Taking a deep breath, he stretched himself to reach the latches on the top of the door and quickly undid them, one at a time. When he finally reached the bottom latch and undid it, the door remained firmly locked against the wall. He placed his hand on the handle, which was also steel and rusted and pulled, doing so with all his heart after discovering the door's weight. It slowly pulled open, doing so rather quietly but try as Edmund did, he only could get it halfway open. _

_He stepped around the steel door, both with caution and with curiosity. The sight that greeted him shocked him. A woman, with a head of dark brown with her head bent down as she sat on her knees. Her fingers, covered in finger-less white lace, held to silver chains as one holds to a lifeline._

_He stepped towards her, but her head didn't rise. He bent down to her and placed a hand on her shoulder, watching as she jumped slightly but kept her head down._

"_M-Miss?" He implored his voice hoarse and shaking, which was unlike his usual self._

_Her head slowly rose and he immediately felt sympathy crawl into his heart and intertwine within him. Scars, deep and old disfigured her otherwise perfect face. One cut through her eyebrow over her left eye and another curved with her cheekbone. On her right side, there seemed to be one long, deep scar that went through her eyebrow and down her cheek some. Light and dark red scar tissue surrounded the scars, making him frown. __Her eyes were as dark and grey as the sky when it rained, seemingly endless. __Some would call her disfigured, others would call her beautiful. _

_Edmund just called her broken._

_She lifted her hand from the chains and touched the side of his face, speaking in a gentle voice. "Oh, my fallen angel."_

_She smiled, but Edmund just stared into her eyes, wondering who she was._

"_Oh, my love, I will take you. You with all your scars and all your beauties. I will take your past, present and future. All because they are you. Without them, who would you be? When you wonder who would take you, I will take you."_

_He trembled at her words, for they were the words of a wife. He reached up to touch her face…to caress those scars._

Edmund immediately awoke from sleep, finding that he had passed out on his desk, paperwork before him and the light still on. He frowned at himself and sat up, stretching out his body in the wooden chair before his desk. His back ached from sleeping in such a position as did his neck. He gently popped his neck and then glanced around.

Perhaps coming to work early was a bad idea.

"Inspector Reid! Inspector Reid!" The loud voice of a woman called to him immediately and he stood quickly and left his office. Rose Erskine immediately spotted him and ran over to him, grabbing his sleeve and urging him to follow her.

"Please, Inspector Reid! Please come help!" She looked upset and was almost to tears as she dragged him from the building, starting towards a large crowd just ahead. He spotted Bennet trying to push through the crowd and broke out into a jog, causing Rose to release his sleeve.

"What is going on? What is with this crowd?" He asked Bennet.

"A woman, she's being beaten by a man. Not sure who." Bennet answered, shoving a man aside and finally beginning to force his way into the crowd. He followed Bennet, pushing aside men who blocked his way. When they finally had made their way through the crowd, Edmund was shocked by what sight greeted him. A woman, half-dressed with her top ripped to almost nothingness around her waist, with her back bared and her hands firmly tied with rope to a tall, wooden pole. She was trembling and seemed to be almost on the brink of tears. Edmund was surprised she wasn't already – for her back was covered in fresh, deep slices from the bloodied whip the man held. The ends of her dark brown hair, though tied up, were covered in blood and stuck to the back of her neck.

Edmund rushed forward as the man brought down the whip again and she cried out loudly, her body spasming from the pain that traveled through her body from the small of her back, where a burning slice now bled. Bennet grabbed the man's hand, just as it was about to strike her again and Edmund quickly removed his coat, placing it over the woman's back, causing her to flinch but she kept her head down, forehead against the bloodied wood. Edmund set to untying her shaking, dirty hands as she panted loudly, soft cries from the pain escaping with her pants for breath. Once released, her hands dropped to the ground and she fell to the side, with Edmund barely managing to catch her. He set her on her side in his lap and brushed the dark brown hair from her face. He immediately gasped, shock spreading through him.

He ran his fingers over the dark red marks surrounding her eyes, feeling how old the scars were and how deeply the cuts had been.

"W-who are you, my savior?" She whispered. "Who are you?"

She lifted her trembling hands and gently touched his face, feeling out his nose, eyes and lips.

"Y-you are Inspector Edmund Reid." She whispered.

"Y-yes. Do I know you, my lady?" He asked, trembling. She turned her head slowly and Edmund took in the difference between the dream he had just and the reality of the severity of her scars. There were more, smaller scars surrounding her gray eyes than were in the dream.

"N-no, but I…know you…" Her eyes began to close and her breath began to fade. "My f-fallen angel…"

She fell limp in his arms, making his eyes widen and his arms tighten around her. He quickly lifted her, bridal style and turned towards the crowd, seeing the surprise and shock within their faces.

"You all should be ashamed of yourselves! Harming a woman who has already been harmed! Shame on you!" Edmund yelled. "Shame on you all!"

The crowd fell silent and Edmund began walking the way he had come, with the crowd parting. Bennet followed him, looking at the faces of those in the crowd as they passed them.

"Inspector Drake!" Edmund got Bennet's attention.

"Yes, sir?"

"These wounds needed to be tended to quickly."

"Uh, Miss Susan could care for them, sir."

Edmund nodded and began walking towards the mentioned woman's house immediately, adjusting the woman in his arms, hoping she would make it.


End file.
